February 28
Events *202 BC - this day marks the coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han, initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty's rule over China *364 - Valentinian I is elevated as Roman Emperor. *870 - The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes. *1700 - Today is followed by March 1 in Sweden, thus creating the Swedish calendar. *1710 - In the Battle of Helsingborg, 14,000 Danish invaders under Jørgen Rantzau are decisively defeated by an equally sized Swedish force under Magnus Stenbock. *1784 - John Wesley charters the Methodist Church. *1787 - Charter granted establishing the institution now known as the University of Pittsburgh. *1827 - The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad is incorporated, becoming the first railroad in America offering commercial transportation of both people and freight. *1838 - Robert Nelson, leader of the Patriotes, proclaim the independence of Lower Canada (today Québec) *1844 - A gun on [[Wikipedia:USS Princeton (1843)|USS Princeton]] explodes while the boat is on a Potomac River cruise, killing two United States Cabinet members and several others. *1849 - Regular steamboat service from the west to the east coast of the United States begins with the arrival of the [[Wikipedia:SS California|SS California]] in San Francisco Bay, 4 months 21 days after leaving New York Harbor. *1850 - The University of Utah opens in Salt Lake City, Utah. *1854 - The Republican Party of the United States is organized in Ripon. *1861 - Colorado is organized as a United States territory. *1870 - The Bulgarian Exarchate is established by decree of Sultan Abd-ul-Aziz of the Ottoman Empire. *1883 - The first vaudeville theater opens in Boston. *1885 - The American Telephone and Telegraph Company is incorporated in New York State as the subsidiary of American Bell Telephone. (American Bell would later merge with its subsidiary.) *1897 - Queen Ranavalona III, the last monarch in Madagascar, was deposed by a French military force. *1900 - The Second Boer War: The 118-day "Siege of Ladysmith" is lifted. *1922 - The United Kingdom accepts the independence of Egypt. *1933 - Gleichschaltung: The Reichstag Fire Decree is passed in Germany a day after the Reichstag fire. *1935 - Nylon is discovered by Wallace Carothers. *1939 - The first issue of Serbian weekly magazine Politikin zabavnik was published. * 1939 - The word "Dord" is discovered in the Webster's New International Dictionary, Second Edition, prompting an investigation. *1940 - Basketball is televised for the first time (Fordham University vs. the University of Pittsburgh in Madison Square Garden). *1942 - The heavy cruiser USS Houston is sunk in the Battle of Sunda Strait with 693 crew members killed. *1947 - 228 Incident: In Taiwan, civil disorder is put down at a loss of 30,000 civilian lives. *1953 - James D. Watson and Francis Crick announce to friends that they have determined the chemical structure of DNA; formal announcement April 25 following publication in April Nature (pub. April 2). *1960 - The United States defeats Czechoslovakia 9-4 in ice hockey to win the gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California. *1972 - Sino-American relations: The United States and People's Republic of China sign the Shanghai Communiqué. *1974 - After seven years, the United States and Egypt re-establish diplomatic relations. *1975 - A major tube train crash at Moorgate station, London kills 43 people. *1983 - The final episode of M*A*S*H is broadcast in the USA, becoming the most watched television episode in history, with 106–125 million viewers in the U.S. (estimate varies by source). *1985 - The Provisional Irish Republican Army carries out a mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary police station at Newry, killing nine officers in the highest loss of life for the RUC on a single day. *1986 - Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden, is assassinated in Stockholm. *1991 - First Gulf War ends. *1993 - Bureau of Alcohol agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco with a warrant to arrest the group's leader David Koresh. Four BATF agents and five Davidians die in the initial raid, starting a 51-day standoff. *1997 - The North Hollywood shootout takes place. *1998 - Kosovo War: Serbian police begin the offensive against the Kosovo Liberation Army in Kosovo. *2001 - The Nisqually Earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter Scale hits the Nisqually Valley and the Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia area of the U.S. state of Washington. * 2001 - Six passengers and four railway staff are killed and a further 82 people suffer serious injuries in the Selby rail crash. *2002 - At least 55 are killed in Ahmadabad, India when Hindus burn Muslim homes. *2004 - Over 1 million Taiwanese participating in the 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally form a 500-kilometre (300-mile) long human chain to commemorate the 228 Incident in 1947 *2005 - Lebanon's pro-Syrian prime minister, Omar Karami, resigns amid large anti-Syria street demonstrations in Beirut. * 2005 - A suicide bombing at a police recruiting centre in Al Hillah, Iraq kills 127. *2007 - Jupiter flyby of the New Horizons Pluto-observer spacecraft. Births *1155 – Henry the Young King, son of Henry II of England (d. 1183) *1261 – Margaret of Scotland, queen of Norway (d. 1283) *1533 – Michel de Montaigne, French writer (d. 1592) *1552 – Joost Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker (d. 1632) *1573 – Elias Holl, German Architect (d. 1646) *1612 – John Pearson, English theologian (d. 1686) *1670 – Benjamin Wadsworth, American President of Harvard University (d. 1737) *1675 – Guillaume Delisle, French cartographer (d. 1726) *1683 – René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, French scientist (d. 1757) *1704 – Louis Godin, French astronomer (d. 1760) *1712 – Louis-Joseph de Montcalm, French military commander (d. 1759) *1724 – George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, British field marshal (d. 1807) *1812 – Berthold Auerbach, German poet and author (d. 1882) *1820 – John Tenniel, English illustrator (d. 1914) *1823 – Ernest Renan, French philosopher (d. 1892) *1824 – Blondin, French tightrope walker (d. 1897) *1833 – Alfred von Schlieffen, German field marshal (d. 1913) *1838 – Maurice Lévy, French engineer (d. 1910) *1840 – Henri Duveyrier, French explorer (d. 1892) *1841 – Adrien Albert Marie de Mun, French politician (d. 1914) *1851 – Samuel W. McCall, 47th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1923) *1865 – Wilfred Grenfell, medical missionary (d. 1940) *1878 – Pierre Fatou, French mathematician (d. 1929) * 1878 – Artur Kapp, Estonian composer (d. 1952) *1882 – Geraldine Farrar, American soprano (d. 1967) * 1882 – José Vasconcelos, Mexican writer (d. 1959) * 1882 – Pádraic Ó Conaire, Irish writer (d. 1928) *1894 – Ben Hecht, American playwright (d. 1964) *1895 – Marcel Pagnol, French novelist, playwright and film director (d. 1974) *1896 – Philip Showalter Hench, American physician, Nobel laureate (d. 1965) *1900 – Wolfram Hirth, German pilot (d. 1959) *1901 – Linus Pauling, American chemist and activist, Nobel laureate (d. 1994) *1903 – Vincente Minnelli, American film director (d. 1986) *1906 – Bugsy Siegel, American gangster (d. 1947) *1907 – Milton Caniff, American cartoonist (Terry and the Pirates, Steve Canyon) (d. 1988) *1908 – Billie Bird, American actress (d. 2002) * 1908 – Alexander Golitzen, American art director (d. 2005) *1909 – Stephen Spender, English poet (d. 1995) *1911 – Otakar Vávra, Czech film director *1912 – Clara Petacci, Italian mistress of Benito Mussolini (d. 1945) *1915 – Ketti Frings, American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and screenwriter, (d. 1981) * 1915 – Peter Medawar, Brazilian-born scientist, Nobel laureate (d. 1987) * 1915 – Zero Mostel, American actor (d. 1977) *1916 – Cesar Climaco, Filipino politician (d. 1984) * 1916 – Svend Asmussen, Danish jazz violinist *1917 – Ernesto Alonso, Mexican actor, director, cinematographer, and producer (d. 2007) *1918 – Alfred Burke, British actor *1921 – Pierre Clostermann, French World War II pilot (d. 2006) *1923 – Charles Durning, American actor *1926 – Svetlana Alliluyeva, Soviet defector, daughter of Joseph Stalin *1925 – Harry H Corbett, English actor (d. 1982) *1929 – Hayden Fry, American football coach * 1929 – Frank Gehry, Canadian-American architect * 1929 – John Montague, Irish poet * 1929 – Joseph Rouleau, French Canadian bass opera singer *1930 – Leon Neil Cooper, American physicist, Nobel laureate * 1930 – Bruce Dawe, Australian poet *1931 – Gavin MacLeod, American actor * 1931 – Dean Smith, American basketball coach *1932 – Don Francks, Canadian actor *1933 – Robert Grondelaers, Belgian cyclist (d. 1989) * 1933 – Miro Steržaj, Slovenian 9-pin bowler * 1933 – Rein Taagepera, Estonian politician *1938 – Foge Fazio, American college football coach (d. 2009) *1939 – Chögyam Trungpa, Tibetan Buddhist meditation master (d. 1987) * 1939 – Daniel C. Tsui, Chinese-born physicist, Nobel laureate * 1939 – Tommy Tune, American dancer *1940 – Mario Andretti, Italian-American race car driver * 1940 – Joe South, American singer *1942 – Frank Bonner, American actor * 1942 – Brian Jones, English musician (The Rolling Stones) (d. 1969) * 1942 – Dino Zoff, Italian footballer *1943 – Barbara Acklin, American soul singer (d. 1998) * 1943 – Charles Bernstein, American composer *1944 – Win Aung, Burmese politician * 1944 – Kelly Bishop, American actress * 1944 – Sepp Maier, German footballer *1945 – Bubba Smith, American football player and actor *1946 – Robin Cook, British politician (d. 2005) *1947 – Stephanie Beacham, English actress *1948 – Steven Chu, American physicist, Nobel laureate, U.S. Secretary of Energy-Designate * 1948 – Mike Figgis, English director * 1948 – Bernadette Peters, American actress and singer * 1948 – Mercedes Ruehl, American actress *1951 – Bill Cratty, American modern dancer and choreographer (d. 1998) *1952 – William Finn, American composer *1953 – Ingo Hoffmann, Brazilian racing driver * 1953 – Paul Krugman, American economist, Nobel laureate * 1953 – Ricky Steamboat, American professional wrestler *1954 – Brian Billick, American football coach *1955 – Gilbert Gottfried, American comedian *1956 – Adrian Dantley, American basketball player * 1956 – Jimmy Nicholl, Canadian-born Northern Irish footballer * 1956 – Mike Tenay, American wrestling commentator * 1956 – Guy Maddin, Canadian film director *1957 – Paul Delph, American musician and producer (d. 1996) * 1957 – Ainsley Harriott, British celebrity chef * 1957 – John Turturro, American actor * 1957 – Cindy Wilson, American singer (The B-52's) *1958 – Natalya Estemirova, Russian activist (d. 2009) * 1958 – Ginette Harrison, British mountaineer (d. 1999) * 1958 – Jeanne Mas, French singer and actress * 1958 – David R. Ross, Scottish historian and writer (d. 2010) *1960 – Dorothy Stratten, Canadian actress (d. 1980) *1961 – Rae Dawn Chong, Canadian actress * 1961 – Mark Latham, Australian politician * 1961 – Barry McGuigan, Irish boxer * 1961 – René Simard, French Canadian singer and TV host * 1961 – Eric Bachelart, Belgian racing driver *1963 – Claudio Chiappucci, Italian cyclist *1964 – Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, Uzbekistan cyclist * 1964 – Fernando del Valle, American tenor * 1964 – Lotta Lotass, Swedish writer, member of the Swedish Academy *1965 – Park Gok-ji, South Korean film editor *1966 – Paulo Futre, Portuguese footballer *1967 – Colin Cooper, English footballer *1968 – Stéphan Lebeau, Canadian ice hockey player *1969 – Butch Leitzinger, American race car driver * 1969 – Robert Sean Leonard, American actor * 1969 – Tor Øivind Ødegaard, Norwegian track runner * 1969 – Patrick Monahan, American singer (Train) *1970 – Daniel Handler, American writer, better known as Lemony Snicket * 1970 – Noureddine Morceli, Algerian athlete *1971 – Maxine Bahns, American actress * 1971 – Tristan Louis, American writer * 1971 – Junya Nakano, Japanese composer * 1971 – Peter Stebbings, Canadian actor *1972 – Rory Cochrane, American actor *1973 – Eric Lindros, Canadian ice hockey player * 1973 – Nicolas Minassian, French racing driver * 1973 – Masato Tanaka, Japanese professional wrestler *1974 – Lee Carsley, Irish footballer * 1974 – Moana Mackey, New Zealand politician * 1974 – Tangi Miller, American actress *1975 – Mike Rucker, American football player *1976 – Ali Larter, American actress and model * 1976 – Adam Pine, Australian swimmer * 1976 – Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge, Canadian actor *1977 – Jason Aldean, American country singer *1978 – Jeanne Cherhal, French singer-songwriter * 1978 – Yasir Hameed, Pakistani cricketer * 1978 – Benjamin Raich, Austrian Olympic skier * 1978 – Jamaal Tinsley, American basketball player * 1978 – Mariano Zabaleta, Argentine tennis player *1979 – Michael Bisping, English mixed martial artist * 1979 – Sébastien Bourdais, French racing driver * 1979 – Ivo Karlović, Croatian tennis player * 1979 – Primož Peterka, Slovenian ski jumper *1980 – Pascal Bosschaart, Dutch footballer * 1980 – Lucian Bute, Romanian-born Canadian boxer * 1980 – Esquerdinha, Brazilian footballer * 1980 – Piotr Giza, Polish footballer * 1980 – Tayshaun Prince, American basketball player *1981 – Brian Bannister, American baseball player * 1981 – Florent Serra, French tennis player *1982 – Natalia Vodianova, Russian supermodel *1984 – Ben Fagan, American musician and reality show contestant * 1984 – Karolína Kurková, Czech supermodel *1985 – Fefe Dobson, Canadian singer * 1985 – Jelena Janković, Serbian tennis player * 1985 – Tim Bresnan, Yorkshire and England cricketer *1986 – Mark Sztyndera, German rugby player *1987 – Kerrea Gilbert, English footballer *1988 – Steeve Gerard Fankà, Cameroonian footballer * 1988 – Markéta Irglová, Czech songwriter and actress *1989 – Charles Jenkins, American basketball player * 1989 – Jason Pierre-Paul, American football player *1991 – Sarah Bolger, Irish actress *2007 – Princess Lalla Khadija of Morocco Deaths *1261 – Henry III, Duke of Brabant (b. c.1230s|1230) *1326 – Duke Leopold I of Austria (b. 1290) *1453 – Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine (b. 1400) *1485 – Niclas, Graf von Abensberg, German soldier (b. 1441) *1510 – Juan de la Cosa, Spanish cartographer and explorer *1525 – Cuauhtémoc, Aztec ruler *1572 – Aegidius Tschudi, Swiss historian (b. 1505) *1621 – Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (b. 1590) *1648 – King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway (b. 1577) *1746 – Hermann von der Hardt, German historian (b. 1660) *1786 – John Gwynn, English architect and engineer (b. 1713) *1788 – Thomas Cushing, American Continental Congressman (b. 1725) *1857 – André Dumont, Belgian geologist (b. 1809) *1869 – Alphonse de Lamartine, French writer and poet (b. 1790) *1891 – George Hearst, American businessman and US Senator (b. 1820) *1916 – Henry James, American writer (b. 1843) *1925 – Friedrich Ebert, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1871) *1929 – Clemens von Pirquet, Austrian physician (b. 1874) *1932 – Guillaume Bigourdan, French astronomer (b. 1851) *1935 – Chiquinha Gonzaga, Brazilian composer (b. 1847). *1936 – Charles Nicolle, French bacteriologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1866) *1941 – King Alfonso XIII of Spain (b. 1886) *1942 – Karel Doorman, Dutch admiral (b. 1889) *1956 – Emile Buisson, French murderer (executed) (b. 1902) *1959 – Maxwell Anderson, American playwright and film writer (b. 1888) *1963 – Rajendra Prasad, First President of India (b. 1884) *1966 – Jonathan Hale, Canadian-born actor (b. 1891) *1967 – Henry Luce, American publisher (b. 1898) *1974 – Bobby Bloom, American singer/songwriter (b. 1946) *1977 – Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, American actor (b. 1905) *1978 – Philip Ahn, American actor (b. 1905) * 1978 – Zara Cully, American actress (b. 1892) * 1978 – Eric Frank Russell, English author (b. 1905) *1979 – Paul Alverdes, German writer (b. 1897) *1985 – David Byron, English singer (Uriah Heep) (b. 1947) * 1985 – Ray Ellington, English singer (b. 1916) *1986 – Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden (b. 1927) * 1986 – Laura Z. Hobson, American novelist (b. 1900) *1991 – Reinhard Bendix, German sociologist (b. 1916) * 1991 – Wassily Hoeffding, American statistician (b. 1914) *1993 – Ishiro Honda, Japanese film director (b. 1911) * 1993 – Ruby Keeler, Canadian actress and dancer (b. 1910) *1998 – Dermot Morgan, Irish actor and comedian (b. 1952) * 1998 – Arkady Shevchenko, Soviet diplomat (b. 1930) *1999 – Christine Glanville, British puppeteer (b. 1924) *2002 – Mary Stuart, American actress (b. 1926) * 2002 – Helmut Zacharias, German violinist (b. 1920) *2003 – Chris Brasher, English athlete (b. 1928) * 2003 – Dinos Dimopoulos, Greek film director and screenwriter (b. 1921) * 2003 – Fidel Sánchez Hernández, President of El Salvador (b. 1917) * 2003 – Roger Michael Needham, British cryptographer (b. 1935) * 2003 – Rudolf Kingslake, English optical engineer (b. 1903) *2004 – Daniel J. Boorstin, American historian, writer, and Librarian of Congress (b. 1914) * 2004 – Carmen Laforet, Spanish writer (b. 1921) * 2004 – Andres Nuiamäe, Estonian soldier (b. 1982) *2006 – Owen Chamberlain, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1920) *2007 – Baron Charles Forte, Italian-born hotelier (b. 1908) * 2007 – Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. American historian and political commentator (b. 1917) * 2007 – Billy Thorpe, Australian musician (Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs) (b. 1946) *2008 – Mike Smith, English musician (The Dave Clark Five) (b. 1943) *2009 – Paul Harvey, American radio broadcaster (b. 1918) Holidays and observances *Bahá'í Faith - Day 3 of Ayyám-i-Há (Intercalary Days) - days in the Bahá'í calendar devoted to service and gift giving. *Andalusia Day - Andalusia, Spain. *Kalevala Day, The Day of Finnish Culture - Finland Liturgical observances *Mar Abba *Holweck, F. G. A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co. 1924. *Abercius *Saint Romanus (died 463) *Saint Oswald (d. 992) *Saint Rufinus *Saint Silvana *Blessed Antonia of Florence (d. 1472) * February 28 References External links * BBC: On This Day * * On This Day in Canada ---- Category:Days of the year Category:February